She was born in a middle-class Gujarati Jain family in Mumbai.
Her father was from Paldi near Pirana Ahmedabad in Gujarat.
Her father was a Jain while her mother was a Muslim.
She is an ardent follower of Sai Baba.
Being the only child of her parents, she was the pivot of her parentsâ lives.
Her mother, Sudha Parekh, enrolled her in classical dance classes at an early age.
She started performing stage shows at an early age.
She started her film career as a child artist with the 1952 film âAasmaanâ in which her screen name was Baby Asha Parekh.
At a stage function, Bimal Roy saw her dance and cast her at the age of twelve in the 1954 film âBaap Beti.â
After doing a couple of child roles, she quit acting to resume her schooling.
At the age of 16, she tried to make her debut as a heroine. However; she was rejected by Vijay Bhatt in his 1959 film âGoonj Uthi Shehnai,â citing she was not a star material. Precisely 8 days later, Nasir Hussain cast her in his film âDil Deke Dekhoâ opposite Shammi Kapoor, which made her a huge star.
She was cast by Nasir Hussain in six more of his films.
She was also associated with Nasir Hussain as a distributor of his films for 21 years.
She became a symbol of glamor girl, excellent dancer, and tomboy in most of her films. However, she also did serious roles in 3 of her favourite films- âDo Badanâ (1966), âChiragâ (1969), and âMain Tulsi Tere Aangan Kiâ (1978).
She did 3 Gujarati Language films including âAkhand Saubhagyavatiâ (1963), which became a huge hit.
She also acted in a few Punjabi Language films including âKankan De Ohleâ (1971) opposite Dharmendra and the hit Kannada film- Sharavegada Saradara (1989).
After playing the lead roles in the films, she started playing the supporting roles of Bhabhi (sister-in-law) and Mother. However; she described it as the âawkward phaseâ of her career.
She founded a production company called âAkrutiâ and produced serials like âBaaje Payal,â Palash Ke Phool,â âKora Kagaz,â and a comedy serial âDaal Me Kaala.â
From 1994 to 2000, she remained President of the Cine Artistsâ Association.
In 2008, she judged a Reality Show âTyohaar Dhamaaka on the 9X Channel.
She remained unmarried throughout her life. However; in an interview, she revealed that she had a longtime boyfriend but declined to explain the relationship.
After her motherâs death, Asha sold her bungalow and shifted into a smaller house to take care of her ailing father who passed away later.
At present, she concentrates on her dance academy called âKara Bhavanâ and the Asha Parekh Hospital (named in her honour) in Santa Cruz, Mumbai.
In 2017, her autobiography titled âThe Hit Girlâ (co-written by Khalid Mohammed) was released by Salman Khan.
